engine failure?

[csu15919]

i think my worst nightmare has finally come to life. i've been having issues with my 01 S for some time now. everything kinda started about 3 months ago, when my clutch went out. I replaced the clutch, installed a lightweight flywheel, replaced RMS, and added a set of headers. everything seemed to work ok for about a week, when all of a sudden, my car just shut off while i was on the highway. i managed to get off of the highway into a parking lot, was reading a little low on oil so i added 2 qts. the car actually started, but shortly died. i attempted to roll start it, and the car started, and i attempted to limp home while a buddy of mine drove behind me. about 2miles down the road, he calls me and tells me to shut it off, because my exhaust was glowing cherry red. well, figuring i had a clog in the exhaust, i went ahead and ordered the fabspeed unit. i was also picking up air/fuel codes, and had oil coming through my intake and exhaust. i removed my MAF and cleaned it, attempted to clean my o2 sensors, and went ahead and started the car with everything on EXCEPT for the MAF meter. the car started up, but died when i replaced the MAF. well, i knew by then i needed a new MAF, so i figured i'd just let the car idle so that i could work out the exhaust leaks on my new exhaust....BUT now the car didn't want to idle even with the MAF unplugged. so i kept trying to start the car, and kept trying to reset the ECU with my scanner when all of a sudden the motor would no long turn over. at first i thought i burned out the starter, so i removed it and turned the key and it turned just fine. then i was thinking maybe my oil issue (coming through the exhaust and intake) maybe caused hyra-lock, so i removed all of the spark plugs. well to my surprise, the plug from cyl #2 was damaged on it's firing tip. with the plugs removed, i tried to start the motor again, and still, just a loud CLICK and no motor spin. next, i tried to rotate the motor by hand...HERE'S THE WEIRD PART...the motor initially wouldn't move when turned clockwise, so i turned it counterclockwise and it moved freely, no noise or anything...BUT, it wouldn't make rotate continuously, it'd finally just stop. go back clockwise now, and it moved and then just STOP. i've had a tech come by and look at it, and he tells me that he's not sure what the deal is, and feels that it might be time to break the motor open and see what's up. we check the rods, and they're all connected (none broken), so there's obviously a problem in the top end. i don't have a scope to look down inside the cylinders right now, so can any of you guys think of ANYTHING else to do, before i pull this thing out????

[Chris_in_NH]

sounds like classic Air-Oil Separator failure to me. being down 2 quarts of oil is not 'a little'. the bad AOS was probably feeding that oil to your engine. you may have hydrolocked it. did any oil come out of the cylinders when you removed the plugs?

speaking of plugs, that plug looks like it got beat up by the piston. not good. i can't think of how that could happen unless the plugs were screwed in WAY too tight.

what were the codes you were getting?

also, when you are removing/installing the MAF, you need to reset the DME by disconnecting the neg battery cable for at least a minute after you disconnect/reconnect the MAF's wiring harness. (you will need your radio code to get the radio working again). that is probably why your car wouldn't even idle with the MAF removed.

what is happening with the car right now? will the engine turn, will it start, run poorly, die, etc.?

[tholyoak]

The glowing exhaust was likely from dumping raw fuel and/or gas into the exhaust and it igniting when it hit the hot metal.

The damage to the spark plug is likely due to hydrolock. You will never screw in the spark plug far enough that it contacts the piston if it is the correct plug for the car.

With the evidence of damage to the plug, it is likely that you bent the rod and/or valves on at least that cylinder.

Do a leakdown test on all the cylinders and that should provide significant insight into the damage. Stop trying to run the motor.

You will probably have to pull the heads to really know what is going on with any certainty. You might be lucky and only have bent the valves on the #2 cylinder.

Todd

[830]

hey,

u guys are aware of the blowing of engines by many of our boxster owners around the world? read them here if you r not >

http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/porsche/porsche_boxster/

gives me the creeps! do you think they r a reason to be alarmed or its just the worse of the units and they r just a minority?

it seems the alloy used for the block was not strong enough.

what say u guys?